Film Trailer
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Trailer Watch: Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly
A couple years ago, there was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about the distribution trials behind Jonathan Levine’s first film, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which changed hands four times before finally seeing a release seven years following its TIFF premiere. About Elly, Asghar Farhadi’s Silver Bear-winning precursor to A Separation, experienced a similar quagmire when its original distributor, Here Films, went out of business. Thankfully, some six years later, Cinema Guild has untangled the rights issues and is now distributing the film on its original 35mm print. Check out the trailer above.
by Sarah Salovaara on Apr 9, 2015 -
Trailer Watch: Rick Famuyiwa’s Dope
Here is a bizarre entry in the contemporary trailer cannon: a one minute plus edit that gives almost no insight into the narrative happenings of the film it depicts, jettisoning specificity for internet topicality. The argument, I guess, is you can glean something about Rick Famuyiwa’s Dope from the execution on display, but I’m inclined to think that with all the memes involved, this is an eye-grabbing attempt more than anything else. The film, which earned raves at Sundance — with the notable exception of Wesley Morris — opens June 19 from Open Road.
by Sarah Salovaara on Mar 26, 2015 -
Trailer Watch: Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak
Referring to an unreleased film as an “ultimate masterpiece” in its first trailer is an interesting marketing tactic, to be sure — especially when its maker’s resume is chockfull of blockbusters. But Guillermo del Toro and Co. have more or less thrown down the gauntlet in this bumper for Crimson Peak, which sees him returning to the fantastical horror of his 2006 breakout, Pan’s Labyrinth. Starring the appealing trio of Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain, the film unfolds in an intricate and gothic mansion, that appears to be home to more than a few types of skeletons. Crimson Peak will be released by Universal Pictures on […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Feb 13, 2015 -
Trailer Watch: Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Here’s the first trailer for the Zellner Brothers’ wonderfully idiosyncratic Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter. The one minute snippet goes a little out of its way to not reveal the narrative catalyst, conjuring a vague aura of suspense, though the film itself is far from your average adventure drama. Breaking your heart with a nearly silent performance, Rinko Kikuchi stars as the titular character who fleas her banal Tokyo confines in search of snowbound, stateside treasure. Amplify will release the film on March 13.
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 19, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy
One of my would-be favorites of 2014 — it comes out next month — finally has a trailer. The Duke of Burgundy, Peter Strickland’s follow-up to the giallo homage Berberian Sound Studio, displays some of the best uses of repetition since Jacques Rivette. What begins as a fetishistic case of master and servant becomes increasingly murky as roles and hierarchy are blurred, then challenged. It’s a viewing experience that handily rewards the uninitiated so I won’t say much more, just that Sundance Selects will release it on January 23, and you’d do best to see it on a wide screen with surround sound.
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 17, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows
David Robert Mitchell’s genre juggernaut, It Follows, continues its year on the festival circuit as a just-announced selection of Sundance’s Midnight program. On the heels of said announcement, we now have our first official look at a (French) teaser. The horror film concerns a teenaged girl in a Detroit suburb who is stalked by a sexually transmitted phantom, but as these things are, the less you know going into it, the better.
by Sarah Salovaara on Dec 8, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Two Days, One Night
Here’s the first U.S. trailer for the Dardenne’s Two Days, One Night, which arrives stateside on December 24 from Sundance Selects. An allegory for human empathy and compassion, the film follows a fragile Marion Cotillard as she goes door to door, begging her co-workers to give up their bonuses so she can keep her job. At times too glossy for its subject matter — which has little to do with its star — the film proves an interesting exercise in repetition, with a closing act that is as heart-wrenching as it is cleverly calculated.
by Sarah Salovaara on Nov 14, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Ava DuVernay’s Selma
You seldom see a female filmmaker making the quantum leap from a $200,000 Sundance title to a Brad Pitt-backed Christmastide blockbuster, so hats off to Ava DuVernay on the upcoming Selma. A retelling of the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, the film stars David Oyelowo (also of DuVernay’s Middle of Nowhere) as Martin Luther King, Jr., with a substantial ensemble in Tom Wilkinson, Oprah Winfrey, Keith Stanfield, Tim Roth and Lorraine Toussaint, among others. Shot by the brilliant Bradford Young, Selma is set for a December 25 limited release and a national rollout on January 9, 2015.
by Sarah Salovaara on Nov 7, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper
Here’s an effective alternative to the traditionally jam-packed action thriller trailer. The first bumper for Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper is structured entirely around a white knuckled do-or-die scenario in which the titular protagonist, played by Bradley Cooper, wagers whether or not to make a kill shot. Based on Navy Seal Chris Kyle’s autobiography and co-starring Sienna Miller, the film opens on Christmas Day, just in time for awards season.
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 3, 2014 -
Trailer Watch: J.C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year
J.C. Chandor is a filmmaker who looks to be carving a rather eclectic oeuvre. The near dialogue-less All is Lost was made in direct contrast to the motormouthed Wall Street floors of Margin Call, and his latest, A Most Violent Year, sees Chandor wading into genre waters. Starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, the film, which is due from A24 in December, tracks a year in the life of an immigrant couple in crime-addled 1981 New York. Your first look is above.
by Sarah Salovaara on Sep 18, 2014
